Knowing
by Shadowzamy
Summary: When Yoh was five years old, something happened which would change his view of others. It all started with a dream. A dream about a little bird who had yet to grow it's true feathers. But dreams have greater meanings than one can usually comprehend. Now, Yoh wonders, what is the meaning to this dream? Finding it could prove hard or easy, but knowing is another matter... HaoxYoh
1. Eaten

'_Thoughts_'

"Speech"

XxX

A bead of sweat trickled down Yoh's neck as as he glanced around the cold dark room. He tried calling out for his family, for someone, for anyone who could hear him, but there was no reply. All that answered him was a rush of freezing cold wind and the appearance of a small speck, but the speck was what interested him. He watched quietly as the speck fell towards the ground, eventually landing with unseen grace.

'_A baby bird carrying a leaf..._' Yoh thought as he watched the small bird quiver in the chilling breeze. The only sound in the room was the leaf in the bird's mouth moving against the wind and the sound of his own quiet breaths. After a while, a few other things fell down, joining the bird on the ground. A cat carrying a purple lotus, a wolf carrying a dogwood flower, a wingless dragon holding a sunflower, a mouse holding a daffodil, a snake carrying a white thistle, a hamster, and a howler monkey holding a daisy now joined the little bird and its leaf.

He wasn't sure why, but he felt happy when he saw the bird surrounded by all those flowers and animals. Even though he was stuck in the cold dark room, it was like he wasn't alone. A smile formed on his lips as he watched the feathers on the bird begin to gain some color. He couldn't tell what bird it was yet, but he was curious. There wasn't really a reason, but he wanted to know what it would turn out to be.

A few minutes later, some rats came over to the animals and the bird. He didn't like those rats. He felt a slight twinge of sadness as he watched the rats take the mouse and it's daffodil away. The other creatures growled at the mouse, but the bird just looked sad at the loss of its friend. The animals walked around for a bit and eventually reached a lemur. The lemur joined the other animals and the bird seemed a little happier. It's feathers continued to grow.

Yoh briefly wondered why he was even in this room and watching the animals. He room was so dark that he could barely see his hand in front of his face, yet he could see the animals so clearly. He decided to continue watching, thinking that maybe his questions would be answered at the end. He watched as the animals continued their journey until they eventually stopped upon seeing another bird, but this one was carrying a burning leaf.

For some reason, this birds colors were faded and hardly visible, but it looked like the same type of bird as the young bird in the group. The other animals growled at the faded bird, but the little bird in the group stayed quiet. The faded bird chirped something before flying off, leaving all of the animals staring in shock at the little bird. A swan suddenly flew in after that and starting saying something something to the animals.

Yoh had the strangest feeling the swan was the little birds father... but he didn't think a swan was what the little bird was... As he looked back at the animals, he realized that they were becoming harder to see. The room was getting darker and much colder than before. Soon it was too dark to see the animals at all. There was now only one thing in the room that he could see, a mirror.

As Yoh gazed at his reflection in the mirror, it began to change. Soon, his reflection disappeared and was replaced by the image of the little bird. The bird looked up at him and then dropped it's leaf. Yoh was very surprised when the background behind the bird changed to show the swan from before handing an egg to two older swans. The image skipped so that it now showed the egg hatched and eating for the first time with the older swans.

The images in the background kept showing small bits of the bird's past before skipping to the next one. The bird seemed to be alone in most of the memories, the only time when that changed was when it was eating with the swans or being taught by the male swan how to swim... which it often failed at. A few times, the male swan would try to paint the little birds feathers white. It was obvious that the little bird hated that.

Yoh felt a slight connection with the bird after seeing it's past, they both had similar experiences. The bird looked up at him patiently, like it was waiting for him to realize something. He stared at the bird for a while and thought about it's past, eventually his eyes caught sight of the leaf again and he understood what the bird was waiting for. '_Ah... I see now. Your name is Yoh. You are me, aren't you?_' Yoh thought as he stared at the little bird.

The little bird chirped and tossed him the leaf. Once Yoh caught the leaf, the bird disappeared, and the room grew darker once again. The little leaf in his hand was the only thing he could see now. When he flipped the leaf over, he noticed a small star shaped pattern. He only had a moment to see it before the leaf also became too dark to see. The feeling of the leaf quickly disappeared from his hands and in little time at all he lost all feeling what-so-ever.

Yoh could no longer tell if his eyes were open of closed, he didn't even know if he was breathing anymore. The dark enveloped everything till all that remained were his thoughts. He wondered where he was, why he was here, and if this was all even real. He was a bit startled when he heard a deep chuckle echo off the walls of the room. '_I though I was the only one in the room now... is there someone else?_' Yoh thought.

"Yea... I guess you could say that. Heh heh. You already forgot, didn't ya kid?" The voice said.

'_Forgot what?_' Yoh thought.

"I'm a demon. I ate you. This ain't no room, it's my gut." The demon croaked.

'_Ew._' Yoh thought.

"Haha. Can't say I blame ya for thinkin that." The demon chuckled.

'_What kind of demon are you?_' Yoh thought curiously.

"Wow, you sure adapt fast... Lots'a people say I look like a mix of a dracolitch and a hippogriff. Although, I've been called a real ugly dragon too. I'm a sub species of the baku, we're less friendly as them though." The demon replied.

'_Why am I in your stomach?_' Yoh thought.

"Cause I don't feel like digesting ya just yet. I've had a real awful headache as of late and fer some reason, havin ya in my gut seems to help with that." The demon replied

'_Are you going to digest me?_' Yoh thought nervously.

"Naw, I got another idea. I'm gonna let one'a my friends eat ya too. He's been kinda sick as-o-late and I think eatin ya will help 'im out. He'll decide whether er not to upchuck ya later." The demon said.

'_Ew... Should I ask how or when he's going to eat me?_' Yoh thought hesitantly.

"Don't need to. He's gonna eat ya now. See ya kid. Oh, an my name's Keh by the way."

Yoh barely had time to register what the demon said as he suddenly lurched forward and began tumbling down a narrow hole. After a moment he landed on something surprisingly soft. When he looked up, he saw that the place he was currently in was a lot brighter than the last. The ground and walls were covered in a bright red moss-like substance. It was surprisingly warms and it took him a moment to realize that he was laying in a large mound of the moss.

A strange scent filled the air, which somewhat resembled a mix of lavender and pine needles. His eyelids began to feel very heavy and it his strength was no longer existent. A low purring sound resounded through the moss, causing it to vibrate slightly and give off a rather soothing feel. Yoh couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, it only took a moment for him to fall into a deep sleep.

xXx

"Oi, wake up, kid." A voice called

Yoh slowly opened his eyes. He was in the same place as before so he figured that the one talking was probably the other demon. "Huh?"

"You're coming out in a minute... But I need to tell you a few things first." The voice replied.

"Alright..." Yoh said hesitantly.

"First of all, you're being let loose after getting eaten by two demons... That's very rare, in case you didn't already know. When a demon eats something, it's food, it gets digested, simple as that. It's even more rare in your case since a it was one of Keh's species that ate you first. Like the baku, Keh's species have very strong connections to dreams. Normally, if one were to meet a Keh's species, one of two things would happen. First, they would be ignored and be plagued by nightmares for the next month or so. Second, they would become its next meal and be completely devoured by it. You had a strange dream while inside Keh, didn't you?" The demon asked.

"Yea... It was different than my normal dreams."Yoh replied.

"Then what happened to you is a very rare third option: you are eaten by one of Keh's species, but it spits you out for whatever reason. While inside Keh's stomach, you were closest to its dream vein. You were in his stomach for too long and because of that you absorbed some of his energy. Now, you can see people's nature connection and such... Well, maybe a few other things too, but I'll leave you to figure those out... I'm only letting you out cause I'm a vegetarian. It went against my being to eat you in the first place. Hope I don't see you again... Bye, kid."

The next thing Yoh knew, he had landed face first on the grass, covered in a sticky saliva. He looked up at the demon, who was drooling and staring at him as though questioning his decision to let him out. The demon shook its head and muttered something before slithering away, leaving Yoh alone in some random part of the forest. He watched silently as the demon left before heading off in the direction he thought his home was.

"I won't tell Jii-chan what happened. He'd just say I'm lying and hit me." Yoh mumbled sadly. He hadn't fully understood what the demons had told him or what had actually happened, he was only five after all. The only thing he did know was that he'd understand when he was older and his grandparents were going furious at him for coming back so late.

XxX

**Yoh:** Dare I ask what inspired this?

**Me:** Well, at first I was feeling down, then I was feeling iffy. I wanted to write something, but didn't know what. So, I started writing something random with no regard for plot and not caring what became of it. After I finished the chapter, I was surprised at what it became. So, I edited it and turned it into an actual story. And thus, this story was created.

**Yoh:** Oh. Wait. Why was I eaten by a demon?

**Me:** Because I felt like having you eaten by something and a demon was the first thing that came to mind.

**Yoh:** -_-"

**Me:** Please review.


	2. The Bird

'_Thoughts_'

"Speech"

XxX (ten years later...)

Yoh stared thoughtfully at the wolf, cat, and hamster before him. Every time he saw them like this, he was reminded of that strange dream he had many years ago. But, he supposed it would be incorrect to call them just a wolf, cat, and hamster, they were his friends. Most would be confused why he would refer to his friends in such a way, but that's just how he saw them sometimes.

In the past ten years, he had learned a little more about what had happened to him after being eaten by that demon. He still wasn't sure of a lot of things, but he knew a bit more than he did then. For instance... The animals that he saw were interpretations of the person's inner self. The things that they held represented where they stood in feelings or emotions, loyalties, and even their own thoughts.

The things that the animals held were usually flowers, it was rare when someone was holding something else. When the the one holding the flower was sad or upset, the flower would droop, and when they were happy, it was healthy. When the creature was questioning where it stood between two sides of something, the flower would loose it's petals, and if they betrayed someone, it would loose some of its color. When the creature was deep in thought, the flower would close.

Yoh sighed as he remembered one other thing that could happen to the flower, if the creature holding it were to loose themselves, the flower would wilt. He had seen it happen a few times before and the result wasn't pretty, to say the least. Ren's flower was wilting when he had first met him, but after they became friends, the flower had started to heal.

A very loud snap woke him from his thoughts. He quickly looked around for the source of the noise before gazing at the end of the table, where Horohoro had just slammed a book down to gain his attention. To his surprise, both Ren and Horohoro were looking his way expectantly. '_Looks like they're in the middle of another argument._' Yoh thought.

"Sorry guys, I wasn't paying that much attention. What was that again?" Yoh asked.

"You're hopeless." Ren muttered.

"We just asked you which is better. China or Japan?" Horohoro asked.

"Uh..."

At that moment, Yoh really wished that he had pretended not to hear the book. Fights between Horohoro and Ren weren't uncommon, so he was able to tell when some arguments would end with actual fighting, this was one of them. He had to word his reply carefully so that he wouldn't set off either of them. Ren was very fond of China and hated it when anyone, especially Horohoro, said something bad about it. Horohoro on the other hand, hated being told he was wrong, especially when Ren was involved.

"They're both great." Yoh said with a carefree smile.

Both Horohoro and Ren sighed, knowing that this was going to be one of those times that he wouldn't give a straight answer. They could keep pressing him on it for the next week without making a difference, he'd just find a way to reply in a way that made him neutral to either. They glanced at Manta, who had the look of 'please-don't-get-me-involved-in-this', before making a silent agreement to let the argument go for once.

A shrill ringing sound filled the air, startling Manta, but simply surprising the others. The three of them quickly glanced down at their oracle bells to read the announcement. It read: Dear shaman participants, the patch plane will arrive at the airport tomorrow. All participants are to be there before noon if they wish to continue to the next round. Good day. Signed Goldva.

"So we're leaving tomorrow? Wow, that's faster than I thought." Horohoro said in disbelief.

"Baka Boroboro. There's probably more to it that, they're just not telling us yet." Ren stated.

"Who're you calling Boroboro!?" Horohoro snapped.

"Come on, guys. It said we're leaving tomorrow, so let's try and get along today. We're going to have a long trip ahead of us." Yoh said cheerfully.

Ren and Horohoro glared at each other for a moment before reluctantly letting out a sigh.

"He has a point." Ren commented.

"Yea. We should probably get packing anyway." Horohoro replied. "See you guys later."

"I have to go too. By, Yoh. Later, Manta." Ren said before heading off in the opposite direction.

Yoh waved goodbye as Manta also left to go something. What that something was he wasn't sure, but Manta had seemed in a hurry. After everyone had left, Yoh got up and began walking towards the forest. He didn't know how long it would be before he came back- _if_ he came back- so he wanted to get a good last view of the place before going to pack.

It was the same forest where he had been eaten by those two demons, a memory he preferred not to recall. However, it was also the place that he would often go to relax when he tried to skip out on training. He hadn't seen either of those demons since that day and he had feeling that he never would. He had tried searching for that second demon more times than he could count, but no matter how hard he tried he could never find it.

Yoh leaned back against a tree and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. There were a few clouds out and the sun made the day rather warm, but the pleasant breeze kept it from getting too hot. He closed his eyes and smiled, letting the breeze brush against his skin. When he opened his eyes, he stumbled back in surprise, causing his head to he the tree behind him.

The pain went by unnoticed as he simply stared at the sight above him. A large fire spirit flew above the sky, an oversoul no doubt, but that wasn't what caught Yoh's attention. Riding on the large fire spirit were a number of shaman. He could see each animal clearly, though the human versions were harder to make out, seeing as how far away they were. However, once again, that wasn't what surprised him.

Sitting on the head if the fire spirit was a shaman who looked about his age, he couldn't make out the person's face that clearly. The only thing he could really tell about them was that they were male -he doubted that a girl would go shirtless with so many other people around- and that he had long hair. But his animal form was what left Yoh in such a state of shock.

"It's the bird from the dream..."

XxX

Me: Please review


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